NOTE: As I always indicate, we live in America and as a homeowner, you can install any upgrade you desire to your home, whether that upgrade makes economic or logical sense or not (whether the upgrade is something a typical homeowner would add in your subdivision). The problem is when you expect the market or buyers to pay dollar-for-dollar for the money you spent adding these upgrades at the time of sale. I used the word “spent” versus “investment” because over improvements are not really “investments”. IF you’re going to live in your home FOREVER and not sell, then fix it up the way you that satisfies you. However, life happens, divorce happens, job layoffs happen, job injuries/disability can happen leaving you in a position to where you must sell. And, when you must sell, you’ll find the tens of thousands you over improved the market (buyers) will not necessarily pay extra for…

“Don Boucher, an appraiser in the Washington, D.C., area, says he sees it all the time: Owners sink tens of thousands of dollars into a super-premium gourmet kitchen in a neighborhood where nobody else has installed such luxury.”

“Because you’ve paid the bills, you know precisely how much you sunk into the kitchen remodeling, bathroom upgrades, landscaping and the new roof. Tom Horn, an appraiser in Birmingham, Ala., says consumers “may think they can get back what they put into” the improvements they’ve made over the years. “But it doesn’t work that way.”

Homeowners “install highly personal but costly items — features they love passionately or need, but most potential buyers don’t.”

Congratulations to my Birmingham AL Appraiser friend, Tom Horn SRA, for being quoted in this article.